Teen Hero Escapes Burning Building After Rescuing His Dog

When a deadly blaze engulfed a building in San Francisco’s Mission District Wednesday night, 13-year-old Alessandro Gonzales was fast asleep. He didn’t hear the fire alarm (authorities think that the smoke alarms didn’t go off), but was eventually awaken by the frantic screams in the building.

After he realized what was happening, he took his mixed Shih Tzu-miniature Poodle and ran toward the fire escape. Gonzales was not aware that the fire escapes were either locked or blocked. The boy and his dog managed to reach the second floor, but found themselves trapped there.

Gonzales smashed the window and looked down at the street where he saw the police, firefighters and many other people. They told him to jump and he did, but not before he saved his little dog. After he was sure that his dog reached safety, Gonzales jumped himself. Thankfully, both the young hero and his beloved dog are fine. According to reports, the boy’s mother managed to escape the building and nervously awaited him down on the street.

Watch the teen hero’s interview here:

13 yro jumped from top floor to escape flames into the hands of SF police officer after throwing his dog to safety. pic.twitter.com/ZSMqiwznrC